Over the past year or so, I’ve experienced Facebook’s “relationship status” from many different points of view. First, I was on the oblivious end of a profile who’s owner - according to Facebook - was single (but actually in a relationship). Later on, my first boyfriend claimed he was single for the first month of our relationship, since not everyone knew he was gay. My profile has stated that I was single when I’d actually been in relationships for weeks - sometimes it would just say “In a relationship,” whereas other times it would specify with who. And I’m not even getting into the options of “It’s complicated” “In an open relationship” and “Looking for whatever I can get” which so many people haphazardly throw upon their profiles.

I started thinking about this yesterday when Shawn Decker asked me about the change he recently noticed in my relationship status on Facebook. “Ah, yes…” I thought. You and about 85% of my 292 Facebook friends probably noticed that… Now, I definitely won’t say that’s creepy, and it’s not like I mind, either. I just find it incredibly interesting how Facebook has changed the way we interact with each other. And it’s not just teenagers, either - it seems like everyone from 14 to 40 has a Facebook now. And they can all be notified at the click of a button that “Michael Strickland is now listed as in a relationship” or “Michael Strickland and Oliver Twist have ended their relationship.” Because I obviously wanted the latter plastered over 292 feed walls…

And not only that - but can you imagine me trying to come out to 292 people? Given, many of them would likely have been informed even 20 years ago by word of mouth, but what about my DC friends? My friends that don’t go to CHS? My friends in their 30s and 40s? Even my cousins! Without Facebook, not many people would actually know (unless, of course, I’m far more popular and gossip worthy than I thought).

I’ve written about this before - I just really like thinking about the impact of the internet on face-to-face social interaction - and I’m certainly not saying it’s a bad thing (most of my accomplishments have been digital in some nature). But in the mean time, before I end up writing my college thesis paper on this topic or something, here’s some interesting articles I found on this topic. I like the last one for no other reason than it keeps using the phrase “the Facebook”:

Love in the Age of Facebook
Til Facebook breakup do us part
Facebook Break-Up Tips for Relationships that Never Existed
Crossing Boundaries: Identity Management and Student/Faculty Relationships on the Facebook